The president’s main concern after laying out the “urgent importance” of countering the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons everywhere was the JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
The JCPOA – reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union – establishes rigorous mechanisms to monitor the restrictions imposed on Iran’s nuclear program, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against the country.
“This horrible unilateral agreement allowed Iran to continue on its path to the bomb,” he declared. Starting in November, he said, US sanctions would come into “full force” and the White House would impose more measures. Anyone who fails to comply with US regulations “would face serious consequences,” he warned.
‘The world is watching’ Idlib
As for the fate of millions of Syrian civilians effectively trapped in Idlib, Trump thanked the Syrian, Russian and Iranian governments for backing away from a large-scale attack in early September.
“I hope restraint continues. The world is watching,” he said, also thanking Turkey for its role in brokering a civilian buffer zone.
Deviating from the main topic of the meeting, President Trump said that the United States had “discovered that China has been trying to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election… They don’t want me or us to win, because I am the first president to challenge China on trade,” he said, without offering further clarification.
In his remarks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi categorically denied any involvement and stated that “China has always followed the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy.” He added that China “refused to accept unjustified accusations.” Yang also described the JCPOA as a “hard-won achievement of multilateralism” and a “workable agreement” that Iran was abiding by.
Evo Morales Ayma (left), President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, and Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz, Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, wait for the start of the Security Council meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security, with a focus on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
‘Contempt’ for multilateralism
Speaking shortly after the American leader, Bolivian President Evo Morales painted a very different picture of global power dynamics and the role of the United States. Iran, he said, was “once again the victim of an American siege” following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA.
He said the United States was “hiding behind pretexts to continue its policy of interference and meddling” in Iran. He said the people of the Middle East had suffered an “illegal invasion” in Iraq, the unjust overthrow of the Libyan government in 2011 and a disastrous civil war in Syria, all the result of Western meddling.
He accused the White House of “contempt for international law, multilateralism, and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said permanent members of the Council had a “special responsibility to protect the important progress” made in stopping the use and stockpiling of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
But after chemical weapons were used repeatedly and with impunity in Syria, as well as isolated attacks in Malaysia and the English city of Salisbury (allegedly targeted killings), he said decades of progress were now under threat.
Teresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, addresses the Security Council meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security, focusing on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. To his right Margot Wallström, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
Advances in stopping chemical and biological warfare could ‘disappear’
“Predictability and stability are declining. If we do not increase our collective efforts to preserve and build on what we have, there is a very real risk that these achievements will diminish or disappear.”
He praised President Trump’s efforts to achieve de-escalation around the DPRK, commonly known as North Korea, but called for sustained pressure and strict enforcement of sanctions. Regarding the JCPOA, he said it “remains the best means to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving the JCPOA as long as Iran remains in full compliance with its obligations.” He offered “strong support” to the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) for its verification and monitoring role inside Iran.
Regarding the verified use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government during the ongoing conflict, Mrs May praised the action of the United States and France with the United Kingdom to respond militarily earlier this year after the attacks. He said it “sent a clear message” to the Assad regime. The perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons cannot escape identification or act with impunity. Regime supporters “must use their influence” to stop further attacks, he said, promising a “quick response” in that case.
He accused Russia of preventing the Security Council from holding the Syrian government to account by “repeatedly overriding its veto.”
For Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded that Syria had destroyed all of its chemical weapons after agreeing to do so in 2013, claiming instead that it was “terrorist groups” that had been wielding chemical weapons since then.
“They learned to synthesize them, they are building laboratories for that and this is something they have warned us about for a long time.” He said Russia had repeatedly offered to cooperate on an international plan to stop “chemical terrorism” without success.
On the Iran deal, Lavrov said the US withdrawal constituted a “serious threat” to the global non-proliferation regime, “all the more so as… Tehran strictly complies with its commitments.”
“Russia is convinced that we must maintain the JCPOA,” he said, adding that otherwise it would create more tension throughout the Middle East, destabilizing national stability and non-proliferation. He also said dismantling the agreement would harm efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.